Operation Totalize

On August 8,1944 the Allies launched their next offensive to drive the Germans back again.  Not waiting for the attack to begin Kurt Meyer of 12 SS pushed his units forward first.  With elements of the First Canadian Corps and the Northants Yeomanary the Allies were to seize the town of Cintheaux as the first step.  German units moved forward engaging the Canadians stopping them outside of the town.  A Nebelwerfer battery kept the Allies under rocket fire destroying a 6lb antitank gun section.  A left flank drive by the Northants was quickly stopped by the 12 SS Mark VI tanks.  Despite aircover the German armor could not be prevented from entering the town.  Canadian infantry moved into Cintheaux and battled the defenders but were unable to push them out.  After sustaining 50% casualties the Allies withdrew remaining forces to await replacements to try again.  German losses were negligible.  The Germans held Cintheaux till nightfall and then fell back to regroup.  The assembly area for the Germans is the town of Falaise.

The scale of the models and infantry is 1\72nd. The organization is platoon\company with the addition of other assets. The pictures are in no particular order.

The game was played out by my friends and  club members MS and JZ. 

Early Imperial Roman Army for DBA in 22mm

DE BELLIS ANTIQUITAS

SIMPLE FAST PLAY ANCIENT WAR-GAME AND CAMPAIGN RULES WITH ARMY LISTS

WAR-GAMES RESEARCH GROUP MARCH 1990

So reads the cover of what is commonly known as DBA.

One of my war-game buddies reintroduced me to DBA this summer utilizing his 6mm collection of Celts, Republican Romans, Sassanid Persians and Late Romans.

We did both games in under 90 minutes. Quickest training games ever! The Republican Romans beat the Celts while the Late Romans just barely beat the Sassanid Persians when their general went down war elephant and all! Sorry no pics.

We had a nice time for sure.

However, we both have large collections of unpainted\painted plastic ancient figures in 1\72nd scale not attached to any rule system. We've been concentrating on other projects including a huge Napoleonic project for Waterloo.

So, after the 6mm DBA games we hit on the brilliant idea of wouldn't be a great to paint up DBA armies for the ancient period in 20mm-23mm reasoning that 60 figures or less for an army is very doable.

Below are pictures of my first DBA army. I had a head start since all the legionnaires, ballista and archers were already painted and needed only a touch up. The auxiliary infantry and cavalry are the additions I made

Legionnaires.
Italeri, Airfix, Revell figures

The command stand features three figures from the Revell set while the one on the right is Airfix as is the base behind.

The usual formation in a DBA game is one stand deep for blades.

6 stands of Legionnaires exceeds the basic list by a little. Foot command/general base to the rear.

Auxila. Figures my HAT and shield transfers by Little Big Man Studios made especially for HAT figs. (I never could paint shield designs.)

Single rank of Auxilia, 3-4 elements allowed on the list. An element is a base with a variable number of figures depending on type.

I like the HAT figures but the spear armed figs were difficult to work with. The pose pictured was the easiest to assemble.

Command Element Mounted. The figures are 20mm New Line Design. Most of my plastic armies are supplemented by metal 20mm figures. New Line are the best I've seen in 20mm or 1\72nd scale.

My choice for a command element.

HAT Auxiliary Cavalry. Nice set. Shield transfers are from Little Big Man Studios. The HAT set is nice featuring figures in scale mail and standards chain mail. 

All the mounted elements

In DBA all light infantry are called psiloi unless they armed formed "bows" like Persians or later Romans. These two archer elements are from the old Airfix set and wear Hamian garb.

One element of artillery is allowed as an option. I believe these are Orion figures-one of the first manufacturers to produce artillery in plastic.

I like them!

12 Elements is the maximum in a basic DBA game. I have enough figures to field the variants but this is what a basic army looks like. I doubled them up to fit them in the picture otherwise one rank is normal for most troop types.

Close up of the Auxiliary Cavalry

These were actually painted almost 20 years ago. I touched them up for DBA. They are Italeri\ESCI figs.

Close up of the HAT Auxila

Early edition of DBA.